I'd like a flat, white, trim, please

Confused? So was I when a Kiwi friend ordered this in a cafe. She just wanted a foamy, milk, no-fat coffee. Love the lingo!

Well, I have to say it again: NEW ZEALAND IS SPECTACULAR! I am already a convert and we've only just begun.

Sat. we drove to the Coromandel peninsula, about a 2-hour drive SE of Auckland. After leaving the motorway and meandering through the greenest fields/farms I've ever, ever seen (plus lots of sheep and cows--now I KNOW I'm in NZ), we arrived at Tairua, a beautiful town located on an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. We planned to climb Mt. Paku, a volcanic peak nearby, but after talking to a local bike rider, he convinced us to go on the cliff walk. Great decision! This happens a lot here: you plan one thing but change your plans because you talked to someone. Spontenaity seems to be the key to discovering the real local activities.

Public access to the Tairua inlet

We then took a small hike along the cliffs down to the beach. There are beautiful homes along the cliffs as well. Talk about a room with a view!

What a dream house!

View from the path

From the cliff walk

Tairua Beach--Pacific Ocean

The Coromandel Peninsula has an unbelievable amount of coastline with many inlets, coves, rocky crags, beaches. The road is very windy and you see views from nearly every turn.

View from the road above Hahei Beach

We parked at the Hahei Beach parking lot and walked down to Cathedral Cove.

On the way down to Cathedral Cove


Giant fern forest--these ferns are trees and are part of a tropical rain forest


Cathedral Cove


Yours truly


Great big rock!


Catherdral Cove on the other side of the hole


Saw this from the road and had to stop

We stopped at an I-Site in Whitianga (info center that have locations everywhere with very friendly help) and found out about a lookout that was in the general direction we wanted to go. So after the requisite cup of afternoon tea and an ice cream, off we went.

Tokatea lookout east


Tokatea lookout west

Earlier in the day, we met a Kiwi couple vacationing from Wellington who told us about the terrific Waiau Kauri grove and a waterfall just off the road on the west coast of the Coromandel. We happily added this to our itinerary and went to these places at the end of the day.

Siamese Kauri trees

You can't tell from the pictures, but these Kauri trees are very tall, extremely straight, with beautiful patchy-colored bark and the HARDEST texture I've ever felt in a tree. When you knock on it, it feels like cement. Hard as a rock. These trees used to be all over New Zealand, but the logging industry from 1880-1930 which nearly decimated them and now they are protected. How the loggers could cut such a hard, heavy tree (and cart it away) I'll never know. They can live up to 4000 years and we have seen small groves of various-size trees on our travels so far. There is a large forest way up north we hope to get to.

Miles the tree-hugger likes Kauris, too


Waiau Falls

Finally, our day was winding down and on the way home, we stopped in Thames for dinner. This is a tiny coastal town (there are many like this) that reminded me of old gold mining towns in Calif., only a lot less commercial. Not only was it small and charming, it was empty. I mean REALLY empty. Here we were on a Sat. night, 7pm, beginning of the summer season and there were maybe 5 people walking around. We strolled a bit to check out restaurants (Chinese, Thai, pizza, bars) and decided on The Old Thames Restaurant that had an old-fashioned atmosphere. It was delicious! Fish and steak were the specialties.

I expected Miss Kitty, the madam with a heart of gold, to lean out this 1896 year-old building and yell, "Hey, Miles, wanna come up for a poke?"